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Düsseldorf (dpa) - Despite the corona crisis and lockdown, the number of unemployed in North Rhine-Westphalia fell in March.
Thanks to the spring revival that is typical of the season, the number of people registered as unemployed has fallen by almost 14,000 or 1.8 percent to around 756,500, reported the head of the NRW regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency, Torsten Withake, in Düsseldorf on Wednesday.
The unemployment rate in the most populous federal state fell from 7.9 to 7.7 percent.
“Despite the concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is still causing us all, March has developed positively on the labor market in North Rhine-Westphalia,” emphasized Withake.
The decline in unemployment in March was even more pronounced than the long-term average.
People under the age of 25 benefited most from this.
"Here, after one year of the effects of the Corona crisis, we can see a return to the usual seasonal pattern: Many young people who have just completed dual vocational training have been able to find a job after a short period of unemployment."
However, the number of unemployed is almost 110,000 above the pre-crisis level.
For many people, it will not be easy to get back to work quickly because the availability of vacancies is still at a low level, said Withake.
He is particularly concerned about the growing number of long-term unemployed.
In the meantime, 43.5 percent of all unemployed in North Rhine-Westphalia have been without a job for more than a year.
The deadline for data collection was March 11th.
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The pandemic poses particular challenges for the training market in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Half a year before the start of the training year, the companies reported almost 85,000 training positions, 7 percent less than a year ago.
The number of applicants was 81,500 at the end of March, 9.3 percent below the previous year's level.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210331-99-38359 / 2